Doctors Peggy and Paul Van Horn, formally of Princeton, will celebrate their 55th wedding anniversary on the eighth of July 2016.

Paul was born in Springfield, Mass., the first of two sons, to Paul and Eleanor “Ornie” Van Horn. He spent most of his childhood in Churchville, N.Y. before heading to Northfield Mount Hermon for the latter years of high school. He graduated from Yale University and went on to N.Y. Medical School concentrating on orthopedics. Paul interned at Rochester General Hospital, N.Y. and Boston City Hospital, Mass. while also serving two years in the U.S. Army as a doctor (Texas and Colorado Springs).

Meanwhile Peggy (Helen Margaret Ross) was born in Mussoorie, India (now Pakistan) to William and Edith Ross, who were Presbyterian missionaries. She spent the better part of her youth, either on the plains of Lyallpur, Punjab (India) with her parents or at The Woodstock School at the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains. She graduated from Sterling College, Kans. and attended Northwestern Medical School and interned at the Evanston Hospital in Ill.

Peggy and Paul’s paths eventually crossed when they were both in residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. in the fall of 1959. They met in the Wilson Club at the Mayo Clinic, the resident’s dining hall. It wasn’t a haphazard chance meeting as Peg’s boyfriend, Dick Beargie, introduced them and asked Paul to join them for lunch. Later a casual game of tennis and … the rest is history. The young couple married in Rochester, Minn. in 1961, and honeymooned at Lake of Bays, Ontario, Canada before moving to Princeton later that same year. Paul set up his own Orthopedic group/business specializing in knees and hips while also managing Physical Therapy of Princeton which lasted for a span of 35+ years. Peggy had worked one year as a staff psychiatrist at the Rochester State hospital before the move. She stayed home for 15 years to raise four children before returning to work as an associate professor of psychiatry at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and a staff psychiatrist at the Mental Health Center in New Brunswick for 15+ years.

Upon retirement they chose to travel extensively, including: Peru, Italy, Europe, Brazil, Alaska, Hawaii, and more. They are proud parents of twins, Barb (Snowmass Village, Colo.) and Val (Richmond, Va.), a third daughter, Alison (Washington D.C.) and a son, Paul “Van” (Brooklyn, N.Y.) as well as nine grandchildren.

These two, Peggy and Paul, have enjoyed 55 years of wedded bliss. They are role models to family and friends and an inspiration to all who have known them. May they share many more years together and should you even hear Bobby Darin’s Mack the Knife you might just see them out on the dance floor!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!